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Last month I celebrated my 33rd birthday, my last birthday as a Miss and as a Lowman…

I hadn’t made any huge plans (with all the saving and busy diaries) so instead I spent the day with my fiancé and the evening with the lovely Mr & Mrs Zissou at one of our local faves.

The day started how all lazy birthdays should start, with a lie in and being made breakfast. After some dippy eggs and some cards in bed I returned from my shower to find my awesome pressie from the boy. He had made me a huge (and I mean HUGE) pair of Vegan Buffalo Horns. We’d been keeping an eye out for some for ages to decorate the door of the wedding barn and not wanting to spend a fortune, he instead thought he’d make me some, Carved from a huge piece of wood they certainly make and impact!! (I’ve yet to take a proper photo as they’re so big! haha)

After that, and because the weather was horrid we gave up on plans to stroll round Mottisfont and instead headed to Winchester for afternoon tea at Hotel Du Vin. What we had was lovely (so much cake) but very lovely (although I must admit I was a little disappointed I didn’t get the promised candy floss! haha) Sorry all the pics are a bit grainy, I left the big camera at home for the day…

There was so much food we smuggled out what we didnt eat and took it with us to the Everyman Cinema. If you’ve not been to an Everyman before go! We got a Sofa (still cheaper then VIP seats at VUE and you can even take in alcoholic drinks and proper food!

We watched the lost land of Z and as an unexpected film (thery only have 2 screens) I was super impressed and we enjoyed it muchly (we would have gone to see Beauty and the Beast but had already watched that a few nights previously on our 4 month count down! – It’s so good, if you’ve not seen it yet, go!)

After that we headed home and had just enough time to freshen up then we strolled down to Southsea Coffee Co for our first raw supper club.

This was amazing (isn’t it always) The tables had all been jiggled round and with low lighting and candles it utterly set the scene for an intimate nights eating.

Communal tables (although we bagged the only table of 4) meant you had the opportunity to meet new friends and share foody tales between courses.

On arrival we were given a virgin peach bellini which set the tone for the evening. From there we had 4 courses of incredible raw vegan food which was all inspired by Italian cuisine (will share the full menu below). I even ate tiramisu and I hate coffee so that’s a testament to the quality of what we were given!!

In a weird way, being that no alcohol was served, we all felt slightly intoxicated, something Ginger & Peach owner Tara assured us was normal and due to the amazing benefits of a raw feast! weird, but good!

We finished the meal with a Limone drink and with full bellies and a happy heart we then headed home and I started my 33rd year of life content and filled with love.

I was utterly spoilt throughout the day by wonderful caring words and well wishes from my nearest and dearest, it’s enough to make a girl feel oh-so-very lucky!!!

It’s not often that I go out and have a drink (or in this case like 18 drinks…) on a school night anymore. Rewind 5 years and school night drinking was a weekly occurrence. But these days… not really (blame my lightweight fiancé or my old age if you will but either way it hardly ever happens)

Which is why this night was so very fun and I had to share. These pics have been hiding in the back of ‘My Pictures’ file for a few months now but better late then never hey!?!

So I was up in London for a conference for work, but stayed on a few days to see some friends and check out the Undressed exhibition at the V&A. Let’s get the sensible grown up stuff out the ways first shall we!?

Drunken shenanigans don’t seem so bad if you’ve also enjoyed a vegan lunch date and a bit of culture! 😉

The first treat of my little break was a lunch date with the beautiful Lacey! She took me to the most amazing little vegan restaurant in Shoreditch called Redemption and we had the most delicious meal!

I also took myself to the V&A to see the awesome Undressed exhibition. Any one who knows me knows I’ve got a thing for lingerie so this exhibition was amazing. Unfortunately you couldn’t take photos so you’ll have to make do with my sketches and a sneaky peek!

Obviously whilst at the V&A on a sunny day you have to have lunch in the courtyard and take the obligatory blown glass chandelier photo….

But it’s what happened on my Thursday evening in London that I really wanted to share…. I met up with my beautiful best friend Kel and her now fiancé in a bar in Clapham and we had ourselves a, well quiet a few bottles of Prosecco…

The photos need no explanation, just good friends, even better times, befriending strangers, dancing on tables, silly posing and a whole load of drunken blurry photos! Here’s to you two babes… I felt awful the next day but looks like we had a super fun evening!! xx

Well the other day a friend shared a short film online that she was featured in.

The film; NOTHING BUT HER has a focus on fashion but explores and profiles 11 women in today’s society.

The film-maker, Emma Breschi is an Italian/Filipino beauty herself and in addition to making films & taking photos in London, she also occasionally steps in front of the lens too..

Emma explains her thoughts behind the film: “Weaving each and every narrative into one story that intends to celebrate modern women and empower young women to embrace your own individually and what it means to be a woman!”

To me, what is so powerful, isn’t only the empowering and individual women who are featured but the poem that is spoken throughout.

I’m not sure who wrote it or where it came from but I adore the words…. So much so that I attempted to share them with you today (apologies if I got some bits wrong… I’m positive I did)

So with Emma’s permission here is her film; NOTHING BUT HER and below, my attempt of sharing with you the spoken words which I think are so awesome.

I know I know I’m late with my third wedding post… I had fully intended to be good and stick to a regular posts but life has a funny habit of getting in the way doesn’t it?!

I do have an excuse though I promise… I have been patiently waiting to hear back from 8 special little ladies… And little ladies can’t be rushed don’t ya know. You may have guessed from this previous post that my thoughts were on my aisle companions and whilst I had fully intended to do this as one big post I thought I’d stop keeping you waiting and do it in two parts.

So… how do you go about deciding on your bridesmaids and flower girls…. It can be a bit of a minefield can’t it!? I have spoken to various friends about this over the last couple of years and it seems one of those things that you can so easily offend people with. I have the best bunch of girls anyone could wish for and whilst I’d love for them all to be my maids, financially and realistically it wouldn’t work so I have long said that I’d stick to just one, my oldest friend Onion (technically Katie FYI), Luckily I know that all my other girls get this and wont feel any less part of the wedding. All have offered their skills in planning and making and help if we need it (that’s when you know you’ve got a good bunch of girls)

So whilst I’ve been reserved on the big girls, I may had got a little carried away when it comes to the little ones…. you can’t blame me… Images like this…

(source) and this…(source) have swayed me into asking a whole gaggle (I’m still working on their collective term) of little ladies to by my wedding day gals.

In the running we have 8….yep 8 little munchkins, all in mismatched dresses with wild flowers in their hair! (Already I cannot wait to see the photos)

So before I could ask them I have to design a card, and before I could design a card I had to create a monogram. This might feel like an odd thing but I always pictured having something, a logo for want of a better word, which could be used throughout our stationary to tell a story of our day… Luckily for us, drawing is my thing and I spent a pleasant evening coming up with the design below… Its tells a story and hints at parts of our day, rustic wild flowers to represent our reception venue. Art Deco patterns for our ceremony venue and some elephants for well…. (that’s a secret) plus the important addition of our initials and our date.

After that it was time to add some colour and some words and I was ready for printing…

Do you like?? We printed them on pure white textured card and they looked swell! (even if I do say so myself) I wrote to all the girls asking and explaining why I’d like them to be my bridesmaid and also asking them to ‘write me back’….

This is a little selfish (my youngest is only 1) but help from mum/dad was encouraged and I’m so glad I did as I have had some beautiful and comical replies which I’ll treasure forever… I’ll wait to share them till I have received all the responses but so far things are looking good with lots of yes’s and excited little ladies….

Here’s a couple of snaps I took whilst writing them…

It was such a fun thing to do, and got me all excited about designing all the rest of our stationary… I’ll make sure I post again soon with their responses and also something a little special I’m making for them all (an alternative to a flower bouquet in case your interested!)

I have been a busy girl of late, not only was it Easter (aka a few days off with my man) but I also celebrated my 32nd Birthday… all in all… a fun filled few days of much merriment and lots of very lovely people…

So… lets start at the beginning – Good Friday (and what a good Friday it was) After a lazy morning we headed to our favourite breakfast spot Southsea Coffee Co. I had a well loved and always delicious Tostada but I must admit I was a tad jealous of Maxwell’s Moroccan inspired special!

After that we decided to get off the island and head to the nearest bit of green we could think of… We decided on Lyndhurst (unfortunately it seemed we weren’t the only ones) After a bit of a queue we abandoned the car in a lay-by and strolled past car upon car into the nearby town.

A well deserved pint and a stroll round the vintage and charity shops a few happy hours were spent and we left with a pasty and chips in search of somewhere pretty to sit.

We enjoyed a late lunch looking out over the stunning New Forest and then headed back home ignoring the still queuing traffic. Once back in local territory we headed to Still & West and enjoyed a drink or two watching the sun set over Gosport.

On Saturday I spent the majority of the day cleaning in preparation for a dinner party with a few of my lovely friends. 8 of us dined around our little dining table and a blooming lovely time was had by all… such a lovely time that I kind of forgot to take many photos. We got through an obscene amount of booze and enjoyed a rather scrumptious raclette!

On Sunday (Easter Sunday obviously) we woke (a little fuzzy headed) and after clearing away the bottles and party remains we started our day how any good Easter Sunday should begin… with chocolate eggs, disney films and a blanket on the sofa. Clear blue skies and sunshine teased us from the other side of the curtains and we gave into it’s promises, grabbed our bikes and headed outside to blow the cobwebs (ahem woozy heads) away.

I noticed a few days earlier that we’d missed our non-date anniversary (the first day we spent together back on 9/3/12) so in honour of the day my oh-so-romantic fiancé planned a tribute to that day. As the Hayling Ferry is no more, we went for the next best option, the Gosport Ferry….

Unbeknownst to me a hot soup and prosecco picnic had been packed and looking back towards The spinnaker Tower, nestled behind some plants we took shelter from the winds (hello storm Katie) and had our selves a belated non-date reminiscent date! I have to admit, I think that lying outside, with the sun warming your face is one of the best feelings ever!

In the evening a few more special friends joined me at Sant Yago‘s new underground speak-easy-esq bar for a few cocktails and more good times! Yay to good friends! ❤

Easter Monday… (and we’re nearly there I promise) started with a lie in. Storm Katie was a feisty little lady last night resulting in not much sleep… Maxwell, concerned about the welfare of his various boats and vehicles suggested we head to Emsworth, I suggested seen we were in that neck of the woods we make a pitstop in the awesome Sausage and Mash pub.

The boats (Maxwell’s own and various ones he’s working on) were all fine, luckily escaping Katie’s windy clutches. Whilst having a mooch around we caught up with Maxwell’s friend who was woking out on the water and considering the wild weather last night the Mill Pond was utterly still and everywhere was ever-so peaceful.

You wouldn’t exactly call it warm though so we headed for the Sussex brewery to warm up and enjoyed a couple of games and a couple of bangers (and mash). In the eve Pappa Lo & the lovely Rosilyn popped over for a cuppa and to deliver a birthday present.

Finally, after dragging it out all weekend, the big day had arrived! Whoo Hoo…. Unfortunately my weird new morning allergy hadn’t got the memo so woke me up at 6am… I escaped to the sofa, blanket in tow, so not to wake my sleeping lover (as I do most mornings) Luckily I managed to get a little extra sleep and was re woken a few hours later in a much more pleasant way. We started the day by opening a few cards and some pressies…

Presents done we showered, dressed and headed out for a late brekkie, this time at Jam & Bowler. From there it was onwards to some more charity shops in a bid to add to our ever growing wedding collection of bits & bobs! (Exciting)

Unfortunately Cosham proved rubbish so we headed to Winchester… After a bit of better luck the rain arrived so it only seem right to take refuge inside Maison Blanc and dry off with the help of a savoury croissant and a slice of cake. (It’s a Birthday so calories don’t count ok)

From there, a few more shops then onwards to our favourite Winchester Pub, The Black Boy…

Nestled on a beat up old table next to the fire, surround by the weird and wonderful, we enjoyed a few (too many) glasses of wine and some games (hello old pacman)

By this stage it was dark outside and I was a little tipsy, Maxwell said he had one last surprise and I had 5 mins to finish my drink… Off we headed and we ended up at the awesome River Cottage Canteen!

I had never been before by by golly it was good! By some strange coincidence it was also Veg Out Night, their monthly vegetarian only evening. If you haven’t been before I 100% recommend you do!

We had an amazing dinner and literally cleared our plates! Also, (because I feel it needs saying) the food was SO reasonably priced!!

Utterly stuffed and content Maxwell had one last surprise, he had brought me (with help from some lovely family members) a super cool Fugifilm intax mini 90 (wow) and gave me the most beautiful card… (I 100% promise it didn’t make me cry……)

So there you have it…. my utterly wonderful birthday surrounded by good friends, the love of my life and good food. What’s not to like! ❤ Same time next year?

So… I have officially been engaged a month now… Wow…if time continues to fly this way we will be getting married in no time at all!!

I thought it would be fun (as I do with most fun things) to blog about my wedding journey… Feeling a bit of a wedding pro (it seems like the last 3 years I have been attending wedding non stop) I thought my unique, and probably topsy turvy approach to wedding planning would be quite fun to share. For example 1 month in and we both have our wedding shoes, an amazing (geeky) scrapbook in the making, a date and very nearly a venue plan…. That’s pretty good right?? Shoes first is a sensible option wouldn’t you agree??! Haha

So here goes… Advice from Ami on how to plan a wedding (and enjoy doing it too)

1, probably the most valuable advice I can share courtesy of my awesome big bro… DONT STRESS AND JUST ENJOY BEING ENAGAGED… YOU HAVE LOADS OF TIME

This is crucial to a healthy and happy wedding planning experience…. A few weeks in I was being to feel (what felt like) hounded from all sides with people asking if we’d set a date, venue suggestions, advice and questions on budgets and money etc… Whilst I knew everyone was just excited and wanted to help I started to feel a little overwhelmed and panicked… Like I needed all the answers straight away. Of course after chatting to my ultra chilled and sensible big bro I calmed down and things all started to feel a little easier… A day with one of my besties chatting ideas and inspirations also helped me get back into feeling excited about the little bits and not stress the big stuff.

I really can’t hammer this in enough…. Enjoy your engagement, call your fiancé fiancé all the time because you can and it will make you feel all happy inside! Celebrate, celebrate and celebrate some more because well you’re engaged and that’s frigging awesome! Celebrate with family meals, with slumber parties with your girls… Celebrate with extra early nights and cheese and cracker nights… Do as many celebratory things as darn possible and ride that celebration out… It feels awesome to have your love toasted and the champagne’s not bad either!

2, SET A DATE

This is me getting practical… Until a date is set you can’t really plan anything… We’ve opted for a midweek date (which we hope will mean things being a little cheaper down the line) but mainly the date was chosen because of its sentimental reasoning. The day is our anniversary and will mark 5 years of being his girl. We always do something special on our anniversary and what better way of celebrating this milestone then by becoming his bride.

3, EMBRACE YOUR INNER BRIDE GEEK

If you’re anything like me, you LOVE a good scrapbook…. For a while now I have been keeping a secret wedding inspiration pinterest board for all the ideas I really really love and wanted to keep a surprise (who am I kidding all my favourite ladies have had a sneaky peak but that’s all part of the fun)

One of the first bridey things I did was go and purchase a big old scrapbook (and complimenting guestbook, hen do book, wedding album… Hey they were on offer) and print off the plentiful selection of inspiration images… I’ve since grouped them into loose categories and printed them off… I told you it was geeky!

Since then I have enjoyed many a chilled happy evening with a guillotine and a roll of double sided tape putting all my ideas into place. Whilst I adore Pinterest I felt I needed things a little more ordered and ‘there’ to look at, scribble notes on and share with Maxwell.

Trust me, this will be a masterpiece and something that I hope will tell the origins of our big day for many a year to come…

This process also helped me narrow down my inspirations so they all fitted and complimented each other… When everything was laid out on the coffee table it’s easier to see that one idea won’t work with the other and without really thinking you’ll be able to start making wedding decisions.

And if you’re feeling mega geeky like me, I can also suggest having a separate book for all things ‘bride’ that way you can share the big book with your fiancé and keep your brides ideas secret!

4, HAVE THAT AWKWARD CHAT ABOUT MONEY AND BUDGET

It’s not nice and it’s a bit tricky but have that chat. Maxwell and I are really keen on buying a house so are being sensible about the cost we’d feel comfortable spending on what is essentially one day. We are fortunate in that we can be creative with all the details that really make a day and have lots of offers of making evenings. Also discuss what you want to do about family contributions and accepting money from family. This was a difficult one as people will want to help but for us it didn’t feel right… We both agreed that we wouldn’t ask for money from anyone… It was our big day and we didn’t feel comfortable with our lovely family giving us big chunks of money. A nice compromise (because people who love you will want to help you out if they can) is to accept gifts… Someone buying your bouquet, someone else getting the toast or for example feels nice and makes those things extra special.

I know this section of the advice is very personal and will vary from couple to couple but I guess the advice is to just do what you feel comfortable with. As soon as Maxwell and I made that decision we felt happier, more in control and also excited… We would be doing this!

5, TREAT YOURSELF AND IF IT FEELS RIGHTS JUST DO IT

I get that by buying our shoes first we may be doing things a little backwards but you know what, I’m excited about my uber bargain vintage shoes from Lithuania. I’m also thrilled that Maxwell has found a pair of beautiful designer boots that he actually likes (this is my lovely man who lives in converse and work boots) it’s a funny story and they’re both so us it’s just feels right!

I may have also indulged in a stunning one off bouquet weave from an Australian artist whom I adore… This little thing, which may seem indulgent to some, will be my special keepsake from my most happiest of days and will forever hang on my wall as a a reminder of the day I said I do! If there’s something that you really want, that will make you feel amazing do it…. Buy it, enjoy it, after all it’s your special day.

So there you have it… My first official wedding post… I’ll definitely update you along the way and share ideas and more ami hints…. I am so excited to be in this bride-to-be bubble… Can you tell?

We’d dabbled in Universal Studios at the very beginning of our holiday when we did Harry Potter but we didn’t go anywhere else in the park so today was the day to tick off as many things as Universally possible…. with limited days left in our holiday and our energy levels dipping we decided to do just 1 day here and cram it all in!

The day was hot and the queues were long… with no fast passes we had accepted we’d be waiting in queues quite a bit, but I must admit, we hadn’t quite anticipated the 3hr+ wait times…. arghh….

We’d been very sensible and planned a route and order for the day, but that didn’t last long I must admit..

We started the day off with Shrek 4-D… like all the 4-D simulator type shows I’d experienced on our holiday I blooming loved this… 3-D things flying out into your face a seat that moved as you galloped along with Donkey and the odd squirt in the face… obviously fun times a plently….

We’d then planned Transformers but not with that wait, so we saw a few of them lurking round the edge of the block but sadly didn’t get to experience the ride

So…. passing on Transformers we moved on to Krusty Land and joined our favourite yellow animated family….

Joining the HUGE queue we watched an endless string of Simpsons clips as we crawled along in the queue. When we finally got the the front the ride itself was again really good, and saw you crashing your way through Krusty Land and going on the worlds worst/best rollercoaster… Fun times!

After the ride we grabbed some food (and a well deserved cold drink) and checked out a few more Springfield landmarks and well known residents…

Next up was the men in black ride which I presumed was something it wasn’t and actually wasn’t that great, luckily we joined the single rider queue so we only waited about 10 minutes!

Then the boys and girls split up so the boys could queue for Transformers and the girls could check out some shops, grab some tator tots and secure a good spot for the Macy’s Christmas Parade….

After a little food fuel, the sun set and the huge parade began… Borrowed balloons and floats from NYC Macy’s Thanks Giving Parade lined the streets and we sat on the curb for a while and enjoyed the festivities whilst the boys crammed in another couple of rides…. (Transformers, The Mummy & the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit)

When the parade finished Freya and I made a mad dash for the Mummy Ride (on recommendation from the boys) even joining the end of the parade in our rush to take advantage of the incredibly short single rider queue…. Our efforts paid off, we went straight on and this ride was fab!! Lots of mummies jumping out on you and flames everywhere… lots of pitch black backless rollercoastering…. lots of fun!

Day 9 and our full day dedicated to the Magic Kingdom had come around…. in the first week we’d only managed to do an evening here or there so we thought it would be fun to spend a whole day in ‘Walt’s world’.

We again chose to approach the Kingdom via boat rather then monorail and it was lovely to see the castle peeking into view in daylight having only ever seen it at night before…

We entered through the main gate and past the Theatre where Maxwell proposed! Cue smiles all round… From there it was on to Adventure Land

The first ride we went on was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride which was a fun water ride through various pirate hang outs… if you were lucky and managed to dodge the living dead you may spot Captain Jack Sparrow here and there along the journey…

After a spot of dressing up and a visit to Torguga Tavern it was time to check out the famous Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse…

This was really cute and you got a chance to climb and explore the various rooms and passages of the tree house… it was really well done and kinda made you wanna live in a tree!!

After that we stopped by the Jungle River Cruise (we didnt actually ride it as queue was about 2hrs long) and it was time to call the future in-laws and share with them the good news of our engagement…

After a few dodgy wifi issues we managed to phone home and share our news…

After that we decided to split up for a bit…. We grabbed a delicious Pineapple float and joined the queue for the awesome Splash Mountain…. (the others went on it later in the day, panic not we didnt leave them out)

After getting a little wet we ventured through Frontier Land and saw a baby Gator on route to our destination….

Pretty cool seeing a wild disney alligator casually swimming round the waters of the lake… We then strolled past the castle on our way to meet the others in Tomorrow World…

It was lovely to see the castle in the sunshine and everyone seemed in such good spirits which was lovely!!

In Tomorrow Land we re-grouped and joined the fast pass queue for the Buzz Lightyear ride (which was fun and I totally whooped Maxwell’s ass shooting way more aliens then he!) ha

After that we split up again as my fiancé and I had dinner plans at Beast’s Castle… We were lucky enough to catch the day time festive parade in front of the castle which was lovely oh so Christmassy! (expect alot of picture’s now… I couldn’t help it)

Pretty special huh!?!?

After that we quickly changed (despite the Americans attitude to dressing down that’s just not how we do things) dressed up we were lead into the beautiful castle with a little help from Lumière and one of the hostesses…. Once inside the masters castle we we sat at a cute little table for two in the grand hall and enjoyed a glass of champagne and 3 courses of yummy French food including a double serving of the grey stuff… it is indeed delicious…

After dinner and a brief glimpse of the beast himself we perused the castle and then got to meet the big man himself… he was quite impressed with Maxwells’ outfit thats for sure…

The rest of our day at Disney was spent taking (lots) more photos and meeting up with the others to do the 7 dwarves and Thunder mountain rides (both of which were excellent) experiencing more Magic kingdom snow, going on Space Mountain and soaking in the atmosphere some more…. Another great day and we all loved our day in the magic kingdom!!!

We woke early, my beautiful new engagement ring nestled safely in its box next to my pillow (it was a little too small) and made plans for the day… After skyping a few family members back home and telling them our exciting news I was eager to get going for the day…

Maxwell and I dropped everyone off at Epcot then headed to a nearby mall to get my ring resized… Our first Mall experience was a hectic one… It seemed our American friends shared the Brit mentality of a Boxing Day shop in the Sales… We battled through the crowds, took some snaps of the decorations on route and then popped in to see a jeweller, because of the style and age of the ring we were advised to leave it for the head jeweller to look at over the next couple of days and were told we would collect it in a day or two.

I sadly handed over my newest my favourite piece of jewellery (a photo to look at in the meantime) and had what felt like our first normal (aka healthy) food of the holiday…

After we were done with lunch we headed off on our day…. We joined the others at Epcot and enjoyed the Pixar Short film festival which saw us watching some of Pixar and Disney’s most successful and popular shorts in 3D….

After that we headed over to Down Town Disney to check out the Marketplace, do some shopping and get some dinner….

The boys excitedly headed straight to the Lego store and spent “a while” perusing the shelves and selecting a gift(s) for themselves… Leaving a little while later checked out some Disney stores before we split up again. Max and I opted for the House of Blues, the rest wanted to check out Planet Hollywood.

We we seated in a booth and serenaded by a fun soulful southern band throughout our meal… I opted for the American classic of buttermilk fried chicken, mash and coleslaw and it was HUGE!!! I boxed up 2 massive bits to take home but what I did eat was enjoyed muchly….

Then it was home and time to share our news with a couple more family members!